Automatic housing type electronic flashlight device of a folding type camera

ABSTRACT

An automatic housing type electronic flashlight device of a folding type camera comprises an electronic flashlight tube positioned in a cutaway portion near a base end of a front cover supported on a swing shaft parallel with a film supporting face of a camera body. The electronic flashlight tube is supported on a rotation shaft parallel with the swing shaft so that it is rotatable between an operating position where a light emission face thereof is projected from the cutaway portion and a housed position. The electronic flashlight tube is urged toward the operating position by an urging member engaged with a pin projecting laterally from the electronic flashlight tube. A cam plate is secured to slide members supported for sliding along the front cover so that the pin is pushed by the cam plate and the electronic flashlight tube is rotated thereby to the housed position when the slide members are moved from the front end side to the base end side of the front cover.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an electronic flashlight device mounted on afolding type camera adapted to be folded compact.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In cameras such as instant cameras wherein large films are used and thedistance between the lens and the film face must be adjustedcomparatively long, a need exists for adapting the cameras to be foldedso that the lens mounting section comes close to the film face and thecameras can be carried easily. Therefore, various folding configurationshave heretofore been employed for the instant cameras. However, in theconventional folding type cameras, a part thereof projects outwardlyeven in the folded condition. Thus the conventional folding type camerasare inconvenient for carrying, for example, in a thin bag.

Accordingly, in a co-pending U.S. Patent Application, the applicantproposed a folding type camera comprising:

(i) a front cover which is fabricated of a front plate standing face toface with an opening in a front face of a camera body and a pair of sideplates joined respectively with side end portions of said front plate,and which is supported on the camera body for swinging around a swingshaft positioned in parallel with a film supporting face of the camerabody in the vicinity of end portions of said side plates,

(ii) rotatable levers each having one end portion supported on thecamera body for rotation around a rotation shaft parallel with saidswing shaft, and an engagement boss positioned near the other endportion for engagement with a guide groove in each of said side platesso that, as said front cover is swung, said rotatable levers are rotatedand said engagement bosses enter introducing portions at end portions ofsaid guide grooves, thereby maintaining said front cover in apredetermined swung position (photograph taking position) where saidopening is opened,

(iii) slide members supported for sliding along said side plates in thedirection approximately normal to said swing shaft and engaged with thevicinity of the other end portions of said rotatable levers so that,when said front cover is swung to said predetermined swung position,said slide members are pushed by said rotatable levers moving inengagement with said front cover and are slid away from said swingshaft,

(iv) slide member locking mechanisms for locking said slide members atpredetermined slid positions when said front cover is swung up to saidpredetermined swung position, and

(v) a shutter board for supporting a photograph taking lens, saidshutter board being supported at front end portions of said slidemembers for rotation around a rotation shaft parallel with said swingshaft so that, when said front cover is opened up to said photographtaking position, said shutter board is rotated to a rotated positionwhere said photograph taking lens becomes parallel to the filmsupporting face of the camera body.

When the front cover is swung to close the opening in the front face ofthe camera body, the slide members are slid toward the swing shaft side(i.e. the base end side) of the front cover along the side platesthereof. At this time, the shutter board supported at the front endportions of the slide members are rotated to a rotated position wherethe shutter board is approximately parallel with the front cover. As theslide members are slid toward the base end side of the front cover, theshutter board is pulled by the slide members and is slid to the insideof the front cover. Accordingly, after the front cover is closed,nothing projects outwardly of the front cover. Thus the camera is foldedinto an almost flat shape.

In order to incorporate an electronic flashlight tube in the foldingtype camera as described above such that the camera be compact, acutaway portion should preferably be positioned near the base endportion of the front cover for incorporating the electronic flashlighttube therein. However, in the case where the electronic flashlight tubeis positioned near the base end portion of the front cover with thelight emission face thereof facing front, the electronic flashlight tubeprojects outwardly of the front cover when the front cover is closed,and the advantage of the folding type camera is lost. When a popping-upconfiguration as used heretofore in the electronic flashlight device ofthe type incorporated in the camera is employed, it is possible to housethe electronic flashlight tube inside of the front cover when the camerais folded. In this case, however, complicated camera operations arerequired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an automatichousing type electronic flashlight device which is automatically housedinside of the front cover when the camera is folded.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatichousing type electronic flashlight device which facilitates operation ofthe folding type camera.

The present invention provides an automatic housing type electronicflashlight device of a folding type camera including:

(i) a front cover supported, near a base end portion thereof, on a swingshaft parallel with a film supporting face of a camera body for swingingbetween a position where said front cover closes an opening of a frontface of the camera body and a photograph taking position where saidfront cover opens said opening,

(ii) slide members supported for sliding along said front cover in thedirection approximately normal to said swing shaft,

(iii) a shutter board provided with a photograph taking lens andsupported at front end portions of said slide members for rotationaround a rotation shaft parallel with said swing shaft, and

(iv) rotatable levers each having one end portion supported on thecamera body for rotation around a rotation shaft parallel with saidswing shaft, and engaged near the other end portion with said frontcover and each of said slide members so that, when said front cover isswung toward said photograph taking position, said rotatable levers arerotated in engagement with said front cover to make said slide membersslide from the base end side of said front cover to an front end sidethereof,

the automatic housing type electronic flashlight device comprising:

(a) an electronic flashlight tube positioned in a cutaway portion nearsaid base end portion of said front cover and supported for rotationaround a rotation shaft parallel with said swing shaft of said frontcover so that said electronic flashlight tube is rotated between anoperating position where a light emission face of said electronicflashlight tube is projected from said cutaway portion outwardly of saidfront cover so as to face front and a housed position where said lightemission face is housed inside of said front cover,

(b) an urging means for urging said electronic flashlight tube towardsaid operating position,

(c) a pin projecting laterally from said electronic flashlight tube, and

(d) a cam plate secured to said slide members for pushing said pinagainst urging force of said urging means and rotating said electronicflashlight tube up to said housed position when said slide members areslid from the front end side of said front cover to the base end sidethereof.

When the camera is folded, the electronic flashlight device of thepresent invention is automatically housed inside of the front cover.Therefore, the electronic flashlight tube does not projects from thefront cover, and the camera can be folded almost flat. Also, since theelectronic flashlight device of the present invention is automaticallyadjusted to the operating position when the camera is set to thephotograph taking condition, the folding type camera becomes easy tooperate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 to 4 are perspective views sequentially showing from the foldedcondition to the photograph taking condition of a folding type camera inwhich an embodiment of the electronic flashlight device in accordancewith the present invention is incorporated,

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the folding type camera in the photographtaking condition,

FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views showing a part of the folding typecamera,

FIGS. 8 and 9 are perspective views showing the embodiment of theelectronic flashlight device in accordance with the present inventionwhen the folding type camera is set to the photograph taking conditionand the folded condition, and

FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view showing a part of the embodimentof the electronic flashlight device in accordance with the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will hereinbelow be described in further detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 4 sequentially show from the folded condition to thephotograph taking condition of a folding type camera in which anembodiment of the automatic housing type electronic flashlight device inaccordance with the present invention is incorporated, and FIG. 5 is aside view showing the folding type camera in the photograph takingcondition. The present invention is described below mainly withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5. By way of example, the folding type camerais an instant camera using a self-processing photographic film. As shownin FIG. 4, an opening 3 for passing light to which a film is exposed ispositioned in a front face 2 of a camera body 1. The opening 3 is openedand closed by a front cover 5 swingable around a swing shaft 4. Thefront cover 5 has an approximately U-shaped cross-section and isfabricated of a front plate 6 adapted for standing face to face with theopening 3, side plates 7 and 7' joined respectively to the right andleft side ends of the front plate 6. One end portion of each of the sideplates 7 and 7' (i.e. the upper end portion thereof in FIG. 5) issupported on a swing shaft 4 which is parallel with a film supportingface 57 of the camera body 1 as shown in FIG. 5 and which extends in thewidth direction of the camera body 1, so that the front cover 5 isswingable in the direction as indicated by the arrow A. The innersurface of the side plate 7 is provided with an arc-like guide groove 8convex to the front plate 6, and an end portion of the guide groove 8 onthe front end side of the front cover 5 constitutes an introducingportion 9 extending in the longitudinal direction of the side plate 7.Also, the inner surface of the side plate 7 between the guide groove 8and the front end of the front cover 5 is provided with a sliding guidegroove 11 extending in the longitudinal direction of the side plate 7.An end portion of the sliding guide groove 11 on the front end side ofthe front cover 5 is bent toward the front plate 6 to constitutes anintroducing portion 10.

On the camera body 1 near the lower end portion of the opening 3, thereis a rotatable lever 13 supported at one end (lower end) thereof on arotation shaft 12 parallel with the swing shaft 4 so that the rotatablelever 13 can be rotated in the direction as indicated by the arrow B. Anengagement boss 14 the end portions of which are projected inwardly andoutwardly from the rotatable lever 13 is secured to the vicinity of theother end (upper end) of the rotatable lever 13. The rotatable lever 13is positioned inside of the side plate 7, and the outwardly projectingportion of the engagement boss 14 is engaged with the guide groove 8 ofthe side plate 7. Therefore, when the front cover 5 is swung to open theopening 3, the engagement boss 14 secured to the rotatable lever 13 ismoved in the guide groove 8, and the rotatable lever 13 is rotated sothat the upper end thereof moves away from the opening 3.

A slide member 15 fabricated, for example, in a plate-like shape, ispositioned inside of the side plate 7. As shown in FIG. 6, on thesurface of the slide member 15 facing the side plate 7, a lock lever 17is mounted for rotation around a rotation shaft 16 secured to the slidemember 15 normal to the side plate 7. The lock lever 17 is provided witha pin 18 which is positioned at an end portion thereof on the front endside of the slide member 15 and which projects outwardly (toward theside plate 7) and inwardly. The outwardly projecting portion of the pin18 constitutes a guide boss 19, and the inwardly projecting portionthereof extends through an opening of the slide member 15 up to insideof the slide member 15. The guide boss 19 engages with the sliding guidegroove 11 of the side plate 7 so that the slide member 15 can be guidedby the sliding guide groove 11 and is slid in the longitudinal directionof the side plate 7 as indicated by the arrow C. By a torsion spring 21positioned around the rotation shaft 16, the lock lever 17 is urged inthe direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6 so that the guide boss19 enters the introducing portion 10 of the sliding guide groove 11. Asshown in FIG. 7, in the vicinity of the rear end portion of the slidemember 15, a long hole 22 extending approximately normal to thelongitudinal direction of the slide member 15 is positioned forengagement with the inner end portion of the engagement boss 14 of therotatable lever 13. Accordingly, when the front cover 5 is swung and therotatable lever 13 is rotated thereby in the direction as indicated bythe arrow B, the slide member 15 is moved forwardly and backwardly inthe direction as indicated by the arrow C.

As shown in FIG. 5, the slide member 15 is engaged with one end of acoil spring 23 the other end of which is engaged with the front cover 5.The slide member 15 is urged by the coil spring 23 toward the base endside of the front cover 5. On the other hand, the rotatable lever 13 isurged by a torsion spring 24 positioned around the rotation shaft 12such that the upper end portion of the rotatable lever 13 moves awayfrom the opening 3.

On the inner side of the front end portion of the slide member 15, thereis supported a shutter board 26 which is rotatable around a rotationshaft 25 parallel with the swing shaft 4 and which is urged by a torsionspring 39 counter-clockwise in FIG. 5. A photograph taking lens 27 issupported at the center of the shutter board 26. The rotation shaft 25is adjusted so that, when the shutter board 26 is in the housed positionparallel with the front cover 5 as shown in FIG. 3, a front face 29provided with an opening 28 for positioning the lens 27 therein ispositioned inner (i.e. closer to the opening 3) than the front plate 6.

The sliding range of the slide member 15 in the direction as indicatedby the arrow C is adjusted such that, when the front cover 5 is openedup to the maximum swung position, i.e. up to the photograph takingposition, and the shutter board 26 is in the aforesaid housed positionas shown in FIG. 3, an upper end 26a of the shutter board 26 is slightlyspaced forwardly away from a front end edge 6a of the front plate 6.Also, the sliding range of the slide member 15 is adjusted such that,when the shutter board 26 is in the aforesaid housed position and thefront cover 5 is in the swung position where the opening 3 is closed,i.e. in the folded position, as shown in FIG. 1, the front facedisappears inside of the front plate 6 and the lens 27 in the opening 28is positioned closer to the base end of the front cover 5 than is thefront end edge 6a of the front plate 6.

On a side face 30 of the shutter board 26, an engagement lever 32fabricated, for example, in the L-shaped form is mounted for rotationaround an engagement lever rotation shaft 31 parallel with the swingshaft 4. To one end portion of the engagement lever 32 is secured anengagement boss 33 projecting laterally therefrom, i.e. toward the slidemember 15. The engagement boss 33 is engaged with a guide groove 34positioned in the inner surface of the slide member 15. The guide groove34 has an arc-like shape adapted to guide the shutter board 26 rotatingaround the rotation shaft 25 and is provided with an introducing portion35 at an end portion closer to the front plate 6. The engagement lever32 is urged by a torsion spring 36 positioned around the rotation shaft31 so that the engagement boss 33 enters the introducing portion 35. Theother end portion of the engagement lever 32 constitutes a toothedpushing portion 37. To the side face 30 of the shutter board 26 issecured a lock releasing contact member 38 for supporting one end of thetorsion spring 36. The position of the contact member 38 is adjustedsuch that, when the shutter board 26 is rotated clockwise around therotation shaft 25 in FIG. 5, the contact member 38 moves by the side ofthe introducing portion 10.

The elements as described above are also positioned in the same manneron the side of the side plate 7' standing face to face with the sideplate 7. The elements on the side of the side plate 7' are designated byattaching a mark ' to the numerals denoting the elements positioned onthe side of the side plate 7.

A cutaway portion 40 is positioned at the base end portion of the frontplate 6 of the front cover 5, and an electronic flashlight tube 41 ispositioned within the cutaway portion 40. FIGS. 8 and 9 show themechanism around the electronic flashlight tube 41 when the camera isset to the photograph taking condition and the folded condition. Theelectronic flashlight tube 41 and the mechanism related thereto willhereinbelow be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. In FIGS. 8 and9, for simplicity of explanation, the positions of the side plates 7 and7' of the front cover 5 are shifted outwardly from their actualpositions. As shown in detail in FIG. 10, the electronic flashlight tube41 is provided with a pair of parallel notches inside of side plates 42,42 of the electronic flashlight tube body. The notches have open ends sothat spaces 43, 43 are formed inside of the side plates 42, 42.Cylindrical engagement shafts 44, 44 for supporting the electronicflashlight tube 41 on the front cover 5 are secured to the side plates42, 42, and a pin 45 is projected from one of the side plates 42. Also,as shown in FIG. 10, a pair of supporting plates 46, 46 spaced away fromeach other are secured to the front cover 5 for supporting theelectronic flashlight tube 41, and supporting shafts 47, 47 areprojected from the supporting plates 46, 46 to stand face to face witheach other. By way of example, the body of the electronic flashlighttube 41, including the side plates 42, 42, is integrally fabricated of aplastic material, so that side plates 42, 42 are resiliently benttowards the spaces 43, 43. When the electronic flashlight tube 41 ismounted on the front cover 5, the side plates 42, 42 are manually pushedand bent towards the spaces 43, 43, and the electronic flashlight tube41 is inserted into the front cover 5 until the engagement shafts 44, 44stand face to face with the supporting shafts 47, 47 of the supportingplates 46, 46. When the side plates 42, 42 are released in thiscondition, they resiliently return outwardly, and the engagement shafts44, 44 fit to the supporting shafts 47, 47. In this manner, theelectronic flashlight tube 41 is mounted on the front cover 5 so that itcan be rotated around the supporting shafts 47, 47.

Further, a torsion spring 48 is applied to one of the engagement shafts44, 44. One end of the torsion spring 48 is engaged with the pin 45, andthe other end thereof is engaged with the front cover 5, thereby urgingthe electronic flashlight tube 41 in the direction as indicated by thearrow E so that it projects from the cutaway portion 40 outwardly of thefront plate 6.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, end portions of a protective plate 49 arejoined to the end faces of the slide members 15 and 15' on the side ofthe front plate 6. When the slide members 15 and 15' are slid, theprotective plate 49 is slid along the inner surface of the front plate6. To the center of the protective plate 49 is secured a cam plate 50extending inwardly of the front cover 5. The cam plate 50 is secured sothat it comes into contact with the pin 45 of the electronic flashlighttube 41 mounted on the front cover 5. A cam face 50a of the cam plate 50coming into contact with the pin 45 is obliquely formed so that the endof the cam face 50a farther from the front plate 6 is closer to thefront end side of the front cover 5 than is the end thereof near thefront plate 6.

As shown in FIG. 5, the supporting shafts 47, 47 around which theelectronic flashlight tube 41 is rotated are positioned farther from theoptical axis of the photograph taking lens 27 than are the swing shaft 4of the front cover 5.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the camera body 1 is provided with aview finder positioned by the side of the upper portion of the frontcover 5. Distance measuring windows 52 and 53 of an auto focusingmechanism are positioned above and below the view finder 51. Since theview finder 51 is positioned between the distance measuring windows 52and 53, it is possible to adjust the base length between the distancemeasuring windows 52 and 53 sufficiently long and still to gather thethree components compact. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a motor 55 fordriving the spreading rollers (not shown) which are used for spreading aprocessing liquid of a self-processing photographic film within theimage forming area and for ejecting the film from an outlet 54 ispositioned by the side of the electronic flashlight tube 41 byefficiently utilizing the space in the front cover 5. In the camerawherein the film is ejected upwardly, the spreading rollers arepositioned at the upper portion of the camera body 1. Therefore, whenthe motor 55 is positioned as shown, it becomes possible to simplify thedriving force transmission mechanism between the motor 55 and thespreading rollers. A light shielding member 56 such as bellows or ashade for shielding the photograph taking optical system from light ispositioned between the shutter board 26 and the camera body 1.

Operations and effects of the folding type camera constructed asdescribed above will hereinbelow be described. When the front cover 5 isfolded to the swung position (folded position) at which the opening 3 isclosed as shown in FIG. 1, the engagement boss 14 of the rotatable lever13 is positioned near the upper end of the guide groove 8 of the sideplate 7, and the rotatable lever 13 is at the rotated positionapproximately parallel with the side plate 7. (The mechanisms on theside of a rotatable lever 13' operate in the same manner as those on theside of the rotatable lever 13. Therefore, only the mechanisms on theside of the rotatable lever 13 are described below.) At this time, theslide member 15 is positioned inside of the front cover 5 as describedlater, and the shutter board 26 is positioned approximately parallelwith the front cover 5 with its front face 29 positioned inside of thefront plate 6. The electronic flashlight tube 41 is in the housedposition such that the light emission face 41a disappears inside of thefront cover 5 and the outer surface of the electronic flashlight tube 41approximately matches the outer surface of the front plate 6.

When the side plates 7 and 7' are then grasped and the front cover 5 isswung so that the front end portion moves away from the camera body 1,the engagement boss 14 moves within the guide groove 8 toward the frontend of the front cover 5 as shown in FIG. 2, and the rotatable lever 13moves so that the upper end portion separates away from the camerabody 1. Also, the slide member 15 the long hole 22 of which is engagedwith the engagement boss 14 is pushed by the rotatable lever 13, and theguide boss 19 of the lock lever 17 is slid within the sliding guidegroove 11 toward the front end of the front cover 5. As a result, theshutter board 26 supported on the slide member 15 comes out of the frontcover 5 toward the front end thereof. Further, the cam plate 50 pushingthe pin 45 as shown in FIG. 9 is moved away from the pin 45 as the slidemember 15 is moved, and the electronic flashlight tube 41 urged by thetorsion spring in the direction as indicated by the arrow E rotates inthis direction so that it projects from the cutaway portion 40. When thefront cover 5 is near the folded position, the urging force of thetorsion spring 24 is comparatively large, and the urging force of thecoil spring 23 is comparatively small. Therefore, the operation ofopening the front cover 5 from the folded position is assisted by thetorsion spring 24 and is effected easily.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the front cover 5 is further opened, therotatable lever 13 is rotated until the engagement boss 14 enters theintroducing portion 9 at the end of the guide groove 8. At this stage,the front cover 5 is prevented by the engagement boss 14 from rotatingfurther and is fixed and supported at the predetermined swung position(photograph taking position). Also, as shown in FIG. 6, the guide boss19 of the lock lever 17 urged by the torsion spring 21 enters theintroducing portion 10 at the end of the sliding guide groove 11, andthe slide member 15 is fixed at the predetermined slid position. At thistime, the upper end 26a of the shutter board 26 is separated forwardlyfrom the front end edge 6a of the front plate 6. Therefore, as shown inFIG. 5, the engagement boss 33 of the engagement lever 32 is slid withinthe guide groove 34, and shutter board 26 urged by the torsion spring 39is rotated so that the upper end 26a faces up exactly. When the shutterboard 26 is thus positioned upright and the engagement boss 33 of theengagement lever 32 is moved up to the upper end portion of the guidegroove 34, the engagement lever 32 urged by the torsion spring 36 isrotated so that the engagement boss 33 enters the introducing portion 35at the end of the guide groove 34. Therefore, the shutter board 26 isprevented from rotating and fixed at the upright position in which thephotograph taking lens 27 in parallel with the film supporting face 57of the camera body 1 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. At this time, theelectronic flashlight tube 41 is projected up to the operating positionin which the light emission face 41a faces forwardly as shown in FIG. 8.Further, since the supporting shafts 47, 47 around which the electronicflashlight tube 41 is rotated is positioned higher than the swing shaft4 as shown in FIG. 5, the light emission face 41a is sufficiently spacedaway from the optical axis of the photograph taking lens 27, and ared-eye phenomenon does not arise. The portion of the front plate 6under the cutaway portion 40 is formed obliquely so that the wallthickness decreases toward the cutaway portion 40. Therefore, lightemitted from the light emission face 41a is not intercepted by the frontplate 6.

As described above, the folding type camera is set from the foldedcondition to the photograph taking condition by a single operation. Whenthe camera is then folded from the photograph taking condition, thepushing portion 37 of the engagement lever 32 is pushed toward the frontplate 6 against the torsion spring 36. As a result, the engagement lever32 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 5 around the rotation shaft 31, and theengagement boss 33 is disengaged from the introducing portion 35 of theguide groove 34. When the pushing portion 37 is further pushed, theengagement lever 32 contacts the lock releasing contact member 38, andtherefore the shutter board 26 is rotated around the rotation shaft 25against the torsion spring 39. At this time, the engagement boss 33 ofthe engagement lever 32 moves within the guide groove 34. Just beforethe shutter board 26 becomes parallel with the front plate 6, the lockreleasing contact member 38 pushes the pin 18 of the lock lever 17. Whenthe shutter board 26 becomes parallel with the front plate 6, the pin 18is disengaged from the introducing portion 10. Then, the slide member 15urged by the coil spring 23 is slid within the front cover 5 toward thebase end side of the front cover 5 together with the shutter board 26while the guide boss 19 of the lock lever 17 is guided by the slidingguide groove 11. As a result, the rotatable lever 13 the engagement boss14 of which is engaged with the long hole 22 of the slide member 15 ispushed by the slide member 15 and rotated clockwise in FIG. 5.Therefore, the engagement boss 14 of the rotatable lever 13 isdisengaged from the introducing portion 9 of the side plate 7 and movedupwardly within the guide groove 8, so that the front cover 5 is swungin the direction closing the opening 3. In the photograph takingcondition as shown in FIG. 5, the urging force of the coil spring 23 iscomparatively large, and the urging force of the torsion spring 24 iscomparatively small. Therefore, the front cover 5 can be readily swungby the force of the coil spring 23 toward the folded position againstthe urging force of the torsion spring 24.

Accordingly, when the front cover 5 is slightly pushed toward the camerabody 1, the front cover 5 is moved to the folded position where itcloses the opening 3.

When the shutter board 26 is moved toward the base end side of the frontcover 5 together with the slide member 15, the front face 29 of theshutter board 26 disappears inside of the front plate 5. Thus thephotograph taking lens 27 supported by the front face 29 is covered andprotected by the front cover 5.

As the slide member 15 is moved toward the base end side of the frontcover 5, the cam face 50a of the cam plate 50 secured to the protectiveplate 49 joined with the slide member 15 gradually pushes down the pin45. Therefore, the electronic flashlight tube 41 is rotatedcounterclockwise in FIG. 5 around the supporting shafts 47, 47. When thefront cover 5 is folded completely, the light emission face 41adisappears inside of the front plate 6. Accordingly, nothing projectsoutwardly of the front cover 5, and the camera is folded almost flat.Also, when the slide member 15 is moved as described above, theprotective plate 49 moves to a position nearly contacting the electronicflashlight tube 41, and closes the cutaway portion 40 in which theelectronic flashlight tube 41 is positioned. Therefore, as shown in FIG.9, the light emission face 41a of the electronic flashlight tube 41disappears inside of the protective plate 49 and is protected thereby.When the front cover 5 is thereafter opened, the protective plate 49 ismoved toward the front end side of the front cover 5 and opens thecutaway portion 40 as the slide member 15 is moved. At this time, sincethe cam plate 50 is moved away from the pin 45, the electronicflashlight tube 41 urged by the torsion spring 48 is projected from thecutaway portion 40.

In the aforesaid embodiment, the cam plate 50 is secured to theprotective plate 49 joined with the slide members 15 and 15'. However,the cam plate 49 may be secured to the inner surface of the slide member15, or a cam face may be directly formed on the inner surface of theslide member 15. Also, instead of fabricating the side plates 42, 42 ofthe electronic flashlight tube 41 integrally with the body of theelectronic flashlight tube 41, the side plates 42, 42 may be fabricatedof a resilient plate material independetly of the body of the electronicflashlight tube 41 and secured, for example, by screws to the body ofthe electronic flashlight tube 41. Further, in the aforesaid embodiment,the rotatable lever 13 and the slide member 15 are engaged with eachother by the engagement of the engagement boss 14 of the rotatable lever13 with the long hole 22 of the slide member 15. However, it is alsopossible to engage them by positioning an engagement boss on the slidemember 15 and an engagement hole in the rotatable lever 13.

I claim:
 1. An automatic housing type electronic flashlight device of afollowing type camera including:(i) a front cover having a base endportion and being supported near said base end portion on a swing shaftparallel with a film supporting face of a camera body for swingingbetween a position where said front cover closes an opening of a frontface of the camera body and a photograph taking position where saidfront cover opens said opening, (ii) slide members supported for slidingalong said front cover in the direction approximately normal to saidswing shaft, (iii) a shutter board provided with a photograph takinglens and supported at front end portions of said slide members forrotation around a rotation shaft parallel with said swing shaft, and(iv) rotatable levers each having one end portion supported on thecamera body for rotation around a rotation shaft parallel with saidswing shaft, and engaged near the other end portion with said frontcover and each of said slide members so that, when said front cover isswung toward said photograph taking position, said rotatable levers arerotated in engagement with said front cover to make said slide membersslide from the base end side of said front cover to a front end sidethereof,the automatic housing type electronic flashlight devicecomprising: (a) an electronic flashlight tube positioned in a cutawayportion near said base end portion of said front cover and supported forrotation around a rotation shaft parallel with said swing shaft of saidfront cover so that said electronic flashlight tube is rotated betweenan operating position where a light emission face of said electronicflashlight tube extends away from said cutaway portion outwardly of saidfront cover so as to face front and a housed position where said lightemission face is housed inside of said front cover, (b) an urging meansfor urging said electronic flashlight tube toward said operatingposition, (c) a pin projecting laterally from said electronic flashlighttube, and (d) a cam plate secured to said slide members for pushing saidpin against urging force of said urging means and rotating saidelectronic flashlight tube to said housed position when said slidemembers are slid from the front end side of said front cover to the baseend side thereof.
 2. An automatic housing type electronic flashlightdevice as defined in claim 1 wherein said electronic flashlight tube isprovided with resilient side plates, and spaces are formed inside ofsaid resilient side plates so that said resilient side plates are benttoward said spaces when said electronic flashlight tube is mounted insaid cutaway portion of said front cover.
 3. An automatic housing typeelectronic flashlight device as defined in claim 2 wherein engagementshafts for rotatable engagement with said front cover are secured toouter surfaces of said resilient side plates.
 4. An automatic housingtype electronic flashlight device as defined in claim 3 wherein saidurging means is a torsion spring applied around one of said engagementshafts, one end of said torsion spring is engaged with said pin, and theother end thereof is engaged with said front cover.
 5. An automatichousing type electronic flashlight device as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid cam plate is secured to a protective plate which is joined withsaid slide members and which covers said light emission face when saidelectronic flashlight tube is rotated to said housed position.
 6. Anautomatic housing type electronic flashlight device as defined in claim1 wherein said rotation shaft around which said electronic flashlighttube is rotatable is positioned higher than said swing shaft on whichsaid front cover is supported.